Development and validation of the Japanese version of the team job crafting scale for nurses

The association between team job crafting and work engagement among nurses: a prospective cohort study

BACKGROUND

Team-level job crafting has been put forward as a method to promote nurses' mental health. However, a longitudinal association is unclear. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the association between team job crafting at baseline and work engagement, work performance, psychological distress, and intention to leave at three-month and six-month follow-ups among Japanese hospital nurses. Also, whether an increase in the team job crafting during 3 or 6 months was associated with an increase in the work engagement during 3 or 6 months of individual nurses was examined.

METHODS

A multilevel prospective cohort study was conducted. Data were collected from nurses of five hospitals in Japan at baseline (T1) and follow-ups at 3-months (T2) and 6-months (T3). A total of 2,478 nurses were included. The team job crafting scale for nurses and its three subscales were measured for the independent variables. Ward-means were used as ward-level variables. The dependent variables were work engagement, work performance, psychological distress, and intention to leave. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used to examine the multilevel association. The study protocol was registered at the UMIN Clinical Trials Registry (ID = UMIN000047810) (May 22, 2022).

RESULTS

A total of 460 nurses completed the T1 survey (response rate = 18.6%), and data from 391 nurses nested in 30 wards were included in the analyses. The intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) at T1 were 0.02 for work engagement and 0.07 for team job crafting. The HLM revealed that ward-level team job crafting at T1 was not significantly associated with work engagement, work performance, psychological distress, and intention to leave at T2 or T3. The ward-level change (T3-T1) of "crafting for the task considering the team's growth" (subscale for team job crafting) was significantly and positively associated with the change (T3-T1) in work engagement.

CONCLUSIONS

Ward-level team job crafting at baseline did not predict nurses' work engagement, work performance, psychological distress, or intention to leave at a three-month or six-month follow-up. The impact of ward-level team job crafting may attenuate over several months.

Research on the influence of maker spirit on knowledge workers' innovative behavior

Motivating the innovative behavior of knowledge workers with the "maker spirit" is important for enhancing innovation efficiency. Based on the unique "maker spirit" embodied in knowledge workers in Chinese, this study comprehensively considers elements of job crafting and superiors' developmental feedback, and uses questionnaire survey method and mathematical statistical analysis method to explore the relationship between the maker spirit and the innovative behavior of knowledge workers in order to provide theoretical support for further promoting the development of social innovation. The results of the study show that the spirit of innovation, sharing, practice, and entrepreneurship in the maker spirit all have a positive contribution to innovative behavior; job crafting mediates between the spirit of innovation, sharing, practice, entrepreneurship, and innovative behavior; and superiors' developmental feedback plays a positive moderating role between the spirit of innovation, sharing, practice, entrepreneurship, and job crafting.

Counterintuitive consequences of COVID-19 on healthcare workers: A meta-analysis of the relationship between work engagement and job satisfaction

Background

Studies conducted in the health sector have determined a positive relationship between job satisfaction and work engagement. However, this paper reveals that this relationship turns into a negative or non-significant relationship during the COVID-19 pandemic. We explore the reasons for inconsistency in research findings in this critical period through a meta-analysis.

Methods

This study was conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines and PICO framework. Online databases including Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, ProQuest, Google Scholar, and additional records from other databases were searched without any time limitation, and all studies published in English that reported the correlation between work engagement and job satisfaction were included in the analysis. In total, 36 individual correlation coefficients were synthesized. R statistical language was used to analyze the data.

Result

A total of 36 studies with a sample size of 16,087 were synthesized. The overall effect size was found as r = 0.57 (95% CI [0.50-0.64]). While the moderating effect of national culture was not statistically significant, presence of COVID-19 as the significant moderator explained 37.08% of effect size heterogeneity. Such that the presence of COVID-19 has transformed the positive relationship between work engagement and job satisfaction into a negative but statistically non-significant relationship.

Conclusion

This study empirically challenges the existing assumptions about the positive link between work engagement and job satisfaction. The results of the research can be a guide for managers and policymakers. Specifically, based on these results, different mechanisms can be put in place to support work engagement and, in turn, job satisfaction in the COVID-19 process.

A systematic review and meta-analytical synthesis of the relationship between work engagement and job satisfaction in nurses

PURPOSE

This study aimed to clarify the mixed conclusions regarding work engagement and job satisfaction in the nursing research literature by conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis.

DESIGN AND METHODS

This meta-analytic review synthesized 15 independent studies published between 2007 and 2021.

FINDINGS

An overall effect size of random-effect model was calculated as r = 0.47 (k = 15, N = 3,818, 95% confidence interval [0.43;0.51]). Data collection method and presence of control variable, as significant moderators, accounted for 43.6% and 43.8%, respectively, of the effect size heterogeneity.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

While the positive relationship between work engagement and job satisfaction was higher in studies using the face-to-face data collection method, it was lower in studies using the control variable in their research models.

Development of the Japanese version of Staff Attitude to Coercion Scale

BACKGROUND

An important factor in proceeding the efforts to reduce coercion in psychiatry is the attitudes of clinical staff toward its use. We aimed to develop the Japanese version of the Staff Attitude to Coercion Scale (SACS) and clarify its psychometric properties.

METHODS

After the translation and back-translation of the SACS, which includes 15 items consisting of three subscales, we conducted an anonymous self-administered questionnaire survey of clinical staffs working in 17 wards in two psychiatric hospitals. We administered the second survey to some of the participants to confirm the test-retest reliability. Additionally, we obtained information regarding the 17 wards from the institutions. Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach's alpha coefficients. Test-retest reliability was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). Structural validity was examined using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory factor analysis (EFA). For construct validity, the correlation of the SACS score within wards and its association with the actual use of seclusion/restraints were explored using multilevel multivariate linear regression analyses.

RESULTS

We used 261 (67.1%) responses, 35 responses of which were also used to examine test-retest reliability. Cronbach's alpha coefficients (0.761) and ICC (0.738) indicated good reliability. The results of CFA based on the original three-dimensional structure did not indicate a good fit (CFA = 0.830, RMSEA = 0.088). EFA suggested a four-factor structure, two of which were almost consistent with the original two subscales. The correlation of the SACS score within wards was confirmed while a positive association with the actual use of seclusion/restraints was not identified.

CONCLUSION

While the original three-dimensional structure was not replicated, construct validity was partially confirmed. Reliability of the total scale was good. In Japan, although using the subscales was not recommended, using the total scale of SACS seemed acceptable.

A state-of-the-art overview of job-crafting research: current trends and future research directions

Purpose

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the founding of Career Development International, a state-of-the-art overview of recent trends in job-crafting research was conducted. Since job crafting was introduced twenty years ago as a type of proactive work behavior that employees engage in to adjust their jobs to their needs, skills, and preferences, research has evolved tremendously.

Design/methodology/approach

To take stock of recent developments and to unravel the latest trends in the field, this overview encompasses job-crafting research published in the years 2016–2021. The overview portrays that recent contributions have matured the theoretical and empirical advancement of job-crafting research from three perspectives (i.e. individual, team and social).

Findings

When looking at the job-crafting literature through these three perspectives, a total of six trends were uncovered that show that job-crafting research has moved to a more in-depth theory-testing approach; broadened its scope; examined team-level job crafting and social relationships; and focused on the impact of job crafting on others in the work environment and their evaluations and reactions to it.

Originality/value

The overview of recent trends within the job-crafting literature ends with a set of recommendations for how future research on job crafting could progress and create scientific impact for the coming years.

Cognitive crafting and work engagement: A study among remote and frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

The outbreak of COVID-19 has led to a profound change in the organization of work in the health care sector. As frontline health care workers are essential in battling the pandemic and their work is appreciated in society, we argue that health care workers who are forced to work from home are likely to perceive their jobs as less meaningful, which in turn may negatively affect their engagement at work. Cognitive crafting, or the altering of the perceptions one has about their tasks and relationships with the aim to enhance the meaningfulness of work, may be a fruitful cognitive strategy to counter the problems remote health care workers face.